Burch-Schneider ring associated with morselized bone allografts, survival and clinical outcomes after acetabular...

Acetabular revision surgery is a challenge due to the appearance of bone defects that make primary fixation of implants difficult when extracting loosened components. Reinforcement rings, such as Burch-Schneider (BS), have been shown to be allies in moderate or severe bone defects. The objective of the study is to evaluate the results and survival of these types of implants in acetabular revision surgery in the medium follow-up.

Retrospective study on a cohort of 64 patients (67 replacements) with BS rings associated with morselized bone allografts in a 2 years minimum follow-up. Data were collected regarding clinical outcomes, graft incorporation, implant mobilization, survival and complications.

The mean follow-up was 5.06 years (R=2.2-12). The Merle scale improved from 8 points to 15 points at the end of follow-up (P<.0001) with 76.11% of good or excellent results. Reproduction of the anatomical centre of rotation was associated with a better result (P<.05). There was total or subtotal incorporation of the bone allograft in 97% of the patients, although this did not prevent a significant migration of the ring according to Gill criteria in 6 cases. We observed an overall survival of the implant for any cause of 93.4% at 5 years, and 84.6% at 10 years.

The BS reinforcement ring shows good results in the medium and long term enabling anatomical reconstruction in revision surgery as well as replacement of the bone stock. These results are also comparable and are a vast improvement on other rings.